If you're trying to tank you'll want to have as many ways to avoid big attacks as possible, rather than trying to absorb them through Regeneration and Protection. You simply can't stand against many bosses and mitigate their damage; you'll end up killing yourself. Same goes for many mob groups as well.

(Not to say Protection/Regeneration doesn't help, I'm just saying it should be more of your backup for when you DO get hit hard, rather than you relying on it.)

The Mace/Shield gives you constant Regeneration (but you have to stand still), a Block with a 15s cooldown, a 5s burst of Protection, an AoE knockback on a 30s cooldown, and +90 toughness.

The Sword/Focus gives you a gap closer to an enemy (proximity is a major determiner of aggro) that AoE blinds multiple enemies on 10s cooldown, a 3s block against projectiles on a 15s cooldown, another AoE blind on a 25s cooldown that grants some Regeneration, and 3 blocks on a 45s cooldown.

The Sword/Focus simply has more ways to prevent you from taking damage. It also deals much more damage than the Mace, and damage is another major determiner of aggro.

As for your traits I won't comment on much, but I think you should have at least 15 points in Radiance. With 5 points your Virtue of Justice gives yet another AoE blind on activation. With 10 points you can reduce your healing skill's cooldown by 20% (8s faster). With 15 points your Virtue of Justice can be spammed in combat for repeated AoE blind. This also gives you more critical chance, which means you'll be able to dodge more from the trait Vigorous Precision in Honor.

Sword + Focus does have a lot of advantages over the set-up, and the traits mentioned by Alaroxr will make it effective.

But it doesn't mean your build will not effective. I like it - the combination reminds me of the trait distribution of the usual point defense guardian in PVP. (It stand pretty well against thinking players. I don't know if it's a good justification but going against limited AI, I think it can do the job.)

The combination is quite flexible and you are able to swap out Honor Traits on the fly. My only concern is your choice of using Meditations. Slapping Signet of Judgement instead will help you negate an additional 10% damage. I don't think a tele-heal every 64 seconds is a game-changer. ("Save Yourselves!" can be good too.) If you want to get Meditations, I'd go for Smite Condition to add to your DPS and Condition Removal every 16 seconds.

I like that you put in Retaliatory Subconscious in there, as it's pretty rare. You can also switch with Vengeful as I can see that you have "Stand Your Ground!"

I do agree that it shouldn't be your main set - so I guess getting Sword + Focus would still work but given your traits I will instead get GS or even Hammer for even more defense. GS has the gap closer + Blind and Symbol for Heal + Retaliation. You also have a Pull Skill. (You can try doing Mace + Focus too, as it will be more defensible)

Keep in mind that you have to really beef up your Toughness via Gears to catch the mobs' attention. Knight's will be a good choice for this as you have Power/Precision/Toughness. (This works for your weapons too.) For Trinkets you might want to get Valkyrie or if you work hard in WVW, you can get Exotic Trinkets using Honor Badges. I don't know if it has a big different compared to the Rare trinkets that you can get for Karma.

I agree that the focus is overall better for being tanky compared to the shield, as for the sword vs the mace though, I would still side with the mace. The sword is an overall better weapon, but in terms of damage mitigation, the sword only offers a gap closer (nice but not a necessity), an AOE blind (great against trash, worthless against bosses with Defiant: 10% effective), and a 3 sec projectile-only-block that is highly situational. I personally would rather use the mace for the slow regen and use my other blocks/renewed focus/dodges for avoiding the big stuff.